Various applications, ranging from small to large, simple to complex, use sensors to monitor certain aspects of an environment. For instance, sensors can detect motion in a room to determine whether its ceiling lights should be turned on. Likewise, sensors can be applied to more complex applications, including engine and vehicle control for automotive and aerospace systems, as well as environmental monitoring in mining, geothermal, and well logging. Accordingly, a wide variety of users (e.g., consumers, scientists, and engineers) regularly depend on the consistency and accuracy of sensor data collection and transmission. With the proliferation of technology in control systems, the importance of reliable monitoring and sensing platforms is apparent.
In particular, commercial, industrial, and military applications rely on sensors to provide data relating to safety conditions, travel speeds, and warning signals. While a household or office environment may be fairly easy to monitor, an operating automotive or aerospace system is considerably more difficult to work with. Complications that include temperature, distance, and power considerations distort the signals that the sensors need to monitor. In general, sensors for commercial applications are rated for temperatures as high as 70° C., industrial applications at 85° C., and military applications at 125° C.
While slight distortions may not adversely impact the entire system, severe distortions may flag a false signal (or fail to flag an existing signal) which in turn can expose people to dangerous situations. When sensors fail to properly perform, the resulting effect may be at the least, inconvenient, and at the most, life-threatening. For example, if a motion detecting sensor fails to signal the lights on in a room, a person in the room would merely be inconvenienced into walking over to the wall to manually flip the light switch on. Meanwhile, if an automobile brake sensor fails to activate the anti-lock braking system while the vehicle is traveling at high speeds, the car could spin out of control and put the driver and passengers (along with others in the vicinity) in severe danger.
A harsh environment calls for a more robust sensing system. In order to progress with reliable operations and research, it is therefore imperative that sensor modules efficiently maintain proper signal monitoring in harsh environments.